Police have allegedly arrested, beaten and detained a man in Savannakhet province in southern Laos for practicing his Christian faith, witnesses told RFAs Lao Service on Thursday.

Police say that the man was arrested for another crime, cutting timber illegally in a protected forest. But local sources say the man was unfairly targeted for his beliefs.

The Christian villager, who declined to have his name published, told police that he and others cut down trees in the forest at the request of the village leader in the provinces Phin district. But sources say that officials rarely enforce the statutes against illegal logging.

A villager told RFAs Vietnamese Service in an interview that the mans involvement in the timber-felling is merely an excusethe other loggers in his group, all of whom are Buddhists, were not arrested.

The villager also said that according to the suspect, while in jail, the police tried to force him to renounce his faith, but he refused. The police responded by beating him harder, slapping his ears to the point that he became unable to hear.

RFA contacted a local security official for details, but the official declined to comment on the matter.

He was detained for cutting timber illegally. Logging in the protected forest is illegal so [that is why] he has been detained, said an official from the National Front Organization, which handles religious affairs in the communist nation.

He has to pay a fine or serve jail time according to forest laws. [His arrest] has nothing to do with religion, the official said.

A local church representative who requested anonymity agreed with the villager that charging him for cutting timber was an excuse, as an arrest for his beliefs would stroke the ire of international religious freedom organizations.

The latest case came to light a week after tree U.S. citizens were held for 10 days on suspicion of disseminating bibles and Christian material without government approval, before being deported to neighboring Thailand.

Conflicts between Laos small number of Christians and local authorities often flare up because believers assert the right to freedom of worship guaranteed by the countrys constitution, while authorities call Christianity a foreign religion in a traditionally Buddhist country, and say that Christians must move out of their villages.

In 2016, six Christians in Savannakhets Phalanxay district were arrested after local authorities entered their house and found that they were practicing the Christian faith.

In 2014, local officials in the provinces Song Khone district arrested 11 Christians for building a temporary church without permission.

In Phin district, seven Christians living in Na Kha Nong village, were arrested in 2015 for gathering people together for a prayer meeting.

The U.S. State Department said in a 2017 report that Lao local authorities often arrested or detained members of minority religions during the year, with a district-level official in Houaphan province expelling 26 Hmong Christians from their village, advising them they could return only if they renounced their faith.

Reported by RFAs Lao Service, Translated in English by Sidney Khotpanya, Written in English by Eugene Whong

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